Almost Summer by Susan Mallery

Ever since she was young, Paige McLean has longed to see the world. Still, she never imagined the world would land on her doorstep in the form of a charming British surgeon who needs a place to stay when his plans fall through.

After a devastating loss, Alistair Woodbury has vowed to live his life alone. But in all his travels, he hasn’t encountered a town as welcoming as Fool’s Gold, nor a woman as caring – or as beautiful – as Paige. Her compassion warms him almost as much as their stolen kisses.

When it’s Alistair’s time to leave, will his brief visit turn into a lifetime stay?

This e-book novella is part of Mallery’s Fool’s Gold series. When Alistair’s visit to his friend, Simon, endangers Simon’s wife, Montana’s pregnancy (he has the measles), Paige offers Alistair a place to stay and nurses his back to health.

Paige is still in mourning for her Aunt, who she grew up with after her parent’s deaths. Paige has always wanted to see the world, but feels stuck in Fool’s Gold, so she turns to Alistair, whose stories about travelling all over the world as a surgeon makes her yearn to follow his lead.

Alistair hasn’t felt the pull to stop his travels, even after the death of his wife and baby daughter, but he sees how at home his friend, Simon, is in Fool’s Gold, and Paige’s presence calls to him.

This is a very sweet book and both characters are likable and fit together well. It really whet my appetite for the next book in the Fool’s Gold series…and stands up to the rest of the books before it, despite the lack of hanky panky that I enjoy in Mallery’s books.